Minka Kelly plays Sydney Price, a young exec who heads to France just before Christmas in order to hopefully finalise a deal that will allow her firm to gain control of a family-owned champagne brand. The owner is rightfully wary, and he would ideally like to find a solution that leaves management in the hands of his son, Henri (Tom Wozniczka). And who is the stranger that Sydney met and had one magical night with when she first arrived in France? Oh yes, it's Henri.
Champagne Problems is a Christmassy romance that feels neither Christmassy enough nor romantic, despite being set in some beautiful French environments. It's not that it's a terrible film, and I think undemanding viewers after a bit of fluff will enjoy it well enough, but it's just disappointingly flat. There's not even a real spark between the leads, making the finale feel more like something engineered purely by someone who knows from the start where the film has to end up.
Writer-director Mark Steven Johnson is a capable enough talent, and he's even been at the helm of a couple of Marvel movies (although he had the misfortune to be with them before the globe-dominating MCU phase of their life cycle), but he doesn't inject any energy into this. I was going to label it as a rom-com, but there's not enough comedy to justify that, and I didn't want to criticise it for not being something that it maybe isn't aiming to be. There is, however, some fun whenever Sean Amsing's character, Roberto, speaks to everyone in his outgoing and entertaining manner. And there's one unexpected fart. Not really a fart gag. Just a fart. How can you sneak that into the plot and not make it funnier? Good on Kelly for portraying a woman who can suffer from wind though.
Kelly tries her best with the material, in fact, and is a big plus. It's just a shame that nothing can be done to lift up something so relatively dull. How can a Christmas romance in France/Paris feel so unspectacular? Wozniczka is handsome and French, as he needs to be, and also tries his best, although he's given even less to work with than Kelly. Amsing is fun, and the supporting turns from Thibault de Montalembert, Flula Borg, Astrid Whettnall, and Xavier Samuel are what you'd expect them to be, nothing more and nothing less. France should be another major character, but it's not showcased as it should be, especially once we've moved beyond the first 10-15 minutes.
Mostly harmless, and I know some have enjoyed it more than I did, but I'm surprised by those who have spoken of it as an unexpectedly enjoyable seasonal offering from Netflix. There's nothing of any substance here. You'd get more satisfaction from eating half a macaron.
4/10
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